Eventually a happy ending
by queenmenzel
Summary: Role model? Rachel Berry needs someone she can look up to and know that whatever happens that person will be there for her. Is Shelby the right person for Rachel...?
1. Chapter 1: The Meeting

**This chapter is short due to that I used it for an English writing assignment. Next one will be longer. **

**I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING! NOT THE CHARACTERS OR GLEE! **

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Rachel was standing in front of her mirror looking at her refection. She had always wondered who her mother was. What her name is, what she looked like, if she looked like her, can she sing and, well, just everything about her.

She'd always wanted a adult female in her life. Someone to look up to and have help mold her as a woman. Not that she was complaining about Ms. Barbra Streisand. She was named for her for goodness sake. The difference was that she isn't around in person, to be a mentor. Rachel wanted someone to talk to about her problems, about girl things and boys, of course. That was something she couldn't do with Ms. Streisand.

She hadn't ever found out what her mothers name was because her parents had never told her. When she asked, they would just change the subject like they didn't want her to know. She knew deep down that they didn't want her contacting her.

As she stood there Rachel thoughts were interrupted by her parents.

They had started to worried about their precious little girl and they knew what the problem was. They weren't that naïve. She was missing a female role model and had been for some time. In that moment they regretted making her birth mother sign the contract that said that she was not allowed to contact her daughter, their daughter, until she turned eighteen or unless, for some ungodly reason, her parents were killed. Maybe they should contact her? Instead, they decided to wait, to see how Rachel got through the week. Maybe she could talk to the girls in her Glee club about things.

Rachel stared at them a moment before she asked

"Is there something you wanted?" She didn't sound angry or annoyed, just more curious than anything.

"It's dinner time." LeRoy answered.

"Oh, okay I'll be right there," she replied.

They left her alone and she took one last look in the mirror before going downstairs. She quietly ate her dinner and then went back up to her room to do some homework and work on some songs. Around 10 pm she went to bed.

**Shelby's POV:**

It was a night like any other as she sat in her home office doing some paper work. She pulled open her file drawer and came across the single most important document in her life. She looked at it often. She came out of her gaze when she felt the paper getting heavier in her hand as she noticed a tear on the paper.

She remembered the day she'd given birth to her baby girl. She hadn't even been able to hold her and she almost didn't get to see her. However, she had gotten a brief glimpse of her when the nurse was cleaning her off. Then her sweet baby girl was quickly whisked away to be taken to her new parents.

She'd tried for so many years to let that moment go but it was too hard.

She knew she only had two more years until she could finally contact her but somehow she hoped that her daughter would seek out to her before that. She didn't know what her name was but she knew that her parents last name was Berry so that was a start.

She leaned back and took a deep breath. Then as she stood up, she turned off the desk lamp and walked out of the office.

It was time to go to bed. 'New job tomorrow,' she thought to herself before she fell asleep. What she didn't know was that her daughter went to the same school she was going to be teaching at.

** Rachel POV: **

Rachel woke up the next day to her alarm. She got out of bed and went down to the kitchen. Her dads were already awake and had breakfast on the table.

Like the night before, she ate in silence and then went back up to her room. She took out her outfit for the day, which was her usual sweater and skirt with knee socks. She then went into her bathroom and came out a half hour later ready for the day.

She went downstairs and gave her dads a hug before she walked out the door and started walking to school.

First period was science. She'd never understood why she had to take science when she wanted to be on Broadway. She was day dreaming throughout the whole class and when the bell rang she quickly took her things and left. She was day dreaming throughout the other classes too until it reached time for choir.

She was super excited but she wasn't really sure why, she just knew it would be good. She walked in and there was a dark haired woman standing next to Mr. Schue.

She sat down next to Tina and whispered "Who's that?"

"That's Ms. Corcoran," Tina whispered back.

"Oh," Rachel let out as Mr. Schue started talking.

"We have the play and a few other projects that I'll be doing this year so this is Ms. Shelby Corcoran, and she's going to be co-directing with me from now on."

As Rachel gazed at Ms. Corcoran there was just something so familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it. At the same time she found herself being watched by the woman as well. She quickly looked over to Finn who was sitting right next to her.

**Shelby's POV: **

The day started out well as time seemed to fly by and it was suddenly time for Glee club. She put her stuff down in the office and then Mr. Schuester was going to introduce her to all the kids. He started out in alphabetical order and pointed at each kid while they were talking amongst themselves.

"So that's Artie Abrams, Blaine Anderson, Rachel Berry…" Her mind kinda went away after he said Rachel Berry. That was it, it had to be her.

Mr. Schuester was still saying names but Shelby was in her own little world. It really is her, or is it? She could see a resemblance but she still wasn't sure. She had known they were living in Lima but the fact that she went to William McKinley High School was a surprise to her, if only she could tell her who she was.

She kept uncharacteristically quiet and quickly disappeared as soon as the class was over and so did Rachel, but she had no idea why.

'Rachel, what a pretty name,' she thought. She drove home and all she could think about was Rachel for the rest of the day. She even fell asleep dreaming about her.

**Rachel's POV:**

Rachel's parents were still at work, so as soon as she got home she ran downstairs to the basement storage room so she could go through their things before they got home. She went through tons of legal papers until at the bottom of a box she found her birth certificate and a paper that her mother had signed that said she wasn't allowed to contact her child until she turned eighteen or her parents died.

'Holy s***,' she thought. Suddenly she thought to look at the time on her phone and it was getting close to 5:30. Her parents would be home any minute. She stuffed the papers in her backpack and quickly put everything else back into the boxes, then ran up to her room where she took them out again. She looked at the certificate and where it said mother's name, she stared at the signature for a long time before she said the name out loud.

"My mother is Shelby Corcoran… Ms. Corcoran my choir teacher?"

She was confused but she now knew who her mother was and she knew her, personally. Well, kind of. She also realized that was probably why Ms. Corcoran kept staring at her in class. But her mother didn't say anything to her and then she remembered the other paper where it said she was not allowed to contact her.

She smiled and then she heard the front door open. She walked out of her room and greeted her fathers. After talking to them about their day she went back to her room and opened up her computer and typed her mothers name into Google. There were a lot of things that came up but then after she went to the white pages, she found what she was looking for…her mothers address.

She went downstairs and started putting on her shoes as she told her dads that she was gonna take a little walk.

She didn't want to make them upset so she kept where she was going quiet. She knew exactly where the address was and it wasn't that far away. When she arrived at the house she looked up hesitantly at the large green door and began knocking. Shelby opened it after three knocks.

"Rachel, what are you doing here?" She asked quite surprised.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah, okay sure," she said opening the door a little farther.

Rachel walked in and sat down on her living room couch. She was really nervous but she hoped for the best with what she was about to say. Shelby walked in behind her and sat across from her in her favorite oversized armchair.

"I know that your my mother," she blurted out quickly. "and I'm pretty sure you already know I'm your daughter but due to that contract you signed you're not allowed to contact me." Rachel breath out loud. "It also said if I wanted any contact with you before I was 18, I had to look for you."

Shelby was shocked but also a little relieved. She'd hoped for this day for years.

"Yes, I knew, and yes, your right. I wasn't allowed to contact you in anyway and I had no idea who you were until Mr. Schuester said your name out loud in class," she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "I only knew you lived somewhere in Lima and that your last name was Berry."

"I know." Rachel said sweetly. "I'm not sure if you want this but, I really want you to be involved in my life and I'm totally fine if you don't want to." Rachel added.

"See, here's the thing. I do want to be involved in your life. I've waited to be a part of it for years."

"Are you serious?" Rachel questioned.

"Absolutely, 100% serious." Shelby smiled at Rachel's disbelief.

Rachel got up and walked over in front of where Shelby was sitting.

"I'm gonna hug you now," she said.

Then Shelby smiled even wider and took Rachel in her arms for the first time in her life. It felt so good to both of them that they stayed that way until Rachel remembered something and unwillingly pulled away.

"I forgot. I've gotta tell my dads."

"You didn't tell them that you found me, or that you were coming to see me?" she asked obviously now confused.

"No, I didn't want to upset them," Rachel said sadly.

Shelby sat for a moment looking at her lost little girl. "Ok, I'll come with you and we can tell them together. That is, if you want me to."

Rachel's eyes lit up and she nodded emphatically.

"Yeah, okay."

Shelby grabbed her keys and followed Rachel out of the house and they walked toward Rachel's house. She didn't know why she didn't offer to drive them but she didn't care. She was finally with her little girl and she could care less how they spent that time just as long as she could be with her.

When they walked into the house the Berry men immediately recognized Shelby.

"Ok, before you say anything, I found her. She didn't find me. I been looking for a female role model and I'm pretty sure that you two had started to figure that out. So I went through your things and I found her name.

They looked back at Rachel before Hiram began to speak.

"Yeah, we had pretty much figured that out for ourselves. We were just hoping that you might be able to talk things out with your friends in glee. But if you didn't, we had also thought that we might get in touch with her or at least give you that information." He looked at Shelby who now had a pleasant look of shock on her face. He then looked at LeRoy and back at Rachel.

"And we will talk later, young lady, about you going through our things without permission," LeRoy added.

"Oh, ok. Well, I really want a relationship with her and she seems to want one with me," Rachel countered.

They both looked back at Shelby. "Are you sure this is really what you want?" Hiram asked her.

"I've wanted this since the day I gave birth to her," Shelby beamed.

"Ok then. It's settled. You get to have a relationship with your Mother," Hiram said to Rachel. LeRoy reluctantly smiled at his daughter.

"Thank you, Thank you so much," she repeated over and over to all three of her parents.

"This means I get to live with her too, right? That is if it's ok with you?" she asked Shelby and then back to her dads.

"Yes, if your dads are ok with that," she agreed.

"Sure, than we can do things together without her…" It got kinda awkward after that and Rachel just rolled her eyes.

"That's TMI Daddy," she said and then looked back at her mother. "Can I spent the night tonight? I can sleep on the couch…"

"Sure, I'm fine with that. We can have a little bonding time." Shelby smiled at Rachel and then looked for an ok from Rachel's fathers who nodded in unison.

"Good, then they can do whatever they want," that though almost made her wanna vomit but then she focused her thoughts back to her mom. "And we can start getting to know each other."

She ran upstairs and quickly packed an overnight bag. When they got back to Shelby's house it was amazing how many things they had in common. They spent the night watching movies, singing, and talking. They had a great time just having an all around girls night.


	2. Chapter 2: What If?

**Here's chapter 2! Really hope you guys will enjoy it :) **

**Remember that I still do not own Glee…**

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Since their meeting Rachel had spent more and more time at her mothers. Which had not been as appreciated by her fathers as it was by her mother.

Shelby had nothing against Rachel being at her place but the closer she got to Rachel the more she was afraid that her fathers would try to take Rachel away from her and she wasn't sure she could handle that again. It was really hard the first time but a second time would just be devastating.

Shelby couldn't stop thinking about it and the more she did she could feel herself tearing up but quickly put her hand up so that Rachel wouldn't notice the tears.

They had cuddled up together on the couch while watching a movie and as it ended Shelby couldn't hold it in any longer. She let the tears fall quickly down her cheeks. This was the first time Shelby Corcoran had ever cried in front of anyone. She never thought that someone would be her own child let alone her sixteen year old daughter.

Rachel looked up and saw that her mother was crying. She didn't really know what to do but she knew she had to do something. She slowly inched closer into her mom and began to hug her. Shelby looked down into Rachel's big chocolate eyes and smiled.

Rachel wanted to ask what was wrong, but she was afraid to. She took a deep breath before she worked up the courage to ask her what was the matter.

"Shelby, what's wrong?" Rachel leaned softly into her mothers shoulder.

"Nothing, sweetie. Nothing you need to worry about anyway."

Rachel really wasn't convinced. She couldn't figure out what it was that was making Shelby so sad and she wanted to know desperately. But she knew something was terribly wrong. She could see it just by looking into Shelby's eyes.

It hurt Rachel seeing her mom cry even though she didn't know if it was because of her, but deep down inside she knew that it had to be.

With those big brown puppy dog eyes Rachel once again looked into her mom's and could see that Shelby knew something was now making Rachel sad and that she wanted answers. After a thirty second staring contest with her daughter Shelby finally gave in.

New tears silently fell as she still held her daughter in her arms. She deeply inhaled and quietly explained "You've been spending a lot of time here with me and I've noticed that your dads aren't as appreciative as I am. I'm just afraid that they'll take you away and I'll never see you again. I'm not sure I could handle that." Rachel had also noticed that her dads were annoyed at her spending so much time with her mother. But what did they expect? They had 16 years to catch up on.

Rachel and Shelby were still hugging tightly when someone knocked on the front door. Rachel moved a bit so Shelby could answer it. On the other side, Rachel's dads looked both happy and sad at the same time. Shelby gestured for them to come in and Rachel got up from the couch.

She was surprised to see them. She already knew she'd spent a lot of time at Shelby's and hadn't been home for over a month. Not that Rachel and her fathers spent a lot of time with each other. They'd had some dinners together and they'd come to a few of her competitions but that was only a once in a while type of thing. She wondered why they both looked so conflicted.

Rachel stood closer to Shelby before she opened up and began to beg "Please don't take me away from her!"

Tears started to build in Rachel's eyes and Shelby put her hands on her shoulders. She was afraid this day would come eventually.

Suddenly her dads looked confused. "Rachel, honey. We're not taking you away from her. We're leaving you with her." LeRoy answered solemnly.

Rachel and Shelby were both shocked.

"Wait what?!" they gasped at the same time.

"Yeah, I've gotten a job in Europe and we didn't think that you would want to come with us." LeRoy addressed Rachel.

They were right about that. Rachel didn't want to leave. She had school, friends, Glee and she'd just found her mother, but she didn't want them to leave either. Her tears started falling again.

"Oh, sweetie it's not that we don't love you!" LeRoy said.

"We do. Very much." Hiram chimed in.

"Honey, can you go to your room for a few minutes so I can talk to them" Shelby asked gently.

Rachel walked into her room and picked up her phone and ear buds. She then lied down on her bed and turned her music on. It always made her feel better no matter what the situation was. However, she couldn't help thinking that maybe her mother didn't want her to live with her permanently.

In the kitchen Shelby sat in front of the Berrys getting quite irritated. They could feel that she wasn't happy. Hiram began speaking.

"We know you weren't prepared for and may not be happy about this."

"Oh no, I'm happy but I'm also very angry. You just knock on my door and tell Rachel that you're leaving her. What kind of parenting is that?!"

"Shelby we all know that you wanted her from the first day she was born but you were too scared to say anything" Hiram stated.

Shelby bit her lip.

It was true. She'd wanted Rachel from the first time she saw her. Hell, from the first time she felt her kick.

Shelby just rolled her eyes. She didn't know how to respond to that.

"Oh, don't eye roll us. We're giving our daughter to you. We're giving you your daughter back. We've got all the paperwork that says that Rachel will now be in your custody, you just have to sign them and she's yours."

A lot was going through Shelby's mind. What was she going to do. She knew that the best thing for Rachel was to have her live with her, but she had no idea how to be a mother. Was she going to screw this up? She started thinking about Rachel again, and the best thing for her was to get away from these men. They were the ones who wanted to leave Rachel, she never wanted to leave her baby but she was forced to. She took the pen LeRoy was holding out and signed the papers. Rachel was now officially hers and the Berry's couldn't take that back now, Shelby was smiling on the inside.

Hiram interjected her thoughts "You can pick up her things tomorrow. We'll be home all day packing."

"Okay, we will be there around 1" She said.

The Berry's left and Shelby went into Rachel's room. She smiled when she found her daughter lying down in her bed listening to music but not any kind of music, her daughter was listening to her, that made Shelby smile even more.

Rachel looked up and took out her right ear bud taking in a deep breath.

"What's going to happen to me?" Rachel asked obviously scared and Shelby could clearly see that.

Shelby sat down beside Rachel and Rachel turned off the music, blushing at the same time because she figured out that her mother had noticed what she'd been listening too.

"Rachel... I signed the papers. You're mine." Shelby looked into Rachel's eyes waiting for a reaction to what she had just told her.

"You did that for me?" Rachel answered with tears but they were now happy tears.

"Of course sweetie. I couldn't let them take you away again plus they didn't seem to want to take you with them either which made me really angry."

"So I'm gonna live here with you now?"

"Yes, you are." Shelby smiled.

"But what about all of my things?"

"We're going to get them tomorrow around 1."

"Oh, okay. Good." Rachel smiled and then jumped into her mother's arms. All Shelby could do was smile as she hugged her daughter tight.


	3. Chapter 3: Change

**So here's chapter 3. I'm not sure when I'll post chapter 4 because I get my inspiration in school and it's now weekend. So it might be Monday or Tuesday :)**

**Still do not own Glee people ;) **

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The next day Rachel woke up around 9 and walked into the kitchen were she knew her mother would be. As expected, Shelby was in the kitchen making breakfast and when Rachel walked into the room Shelby looked up and smiled brightly at her girl.

"I was just about to come wake you up."

Rachel smiled before she answered. "I thought it was time to get up. I've been lying in bed awake for an hour anyway."

"Oh, okay. It's good to know that you can wake up by yourself so I don't have to get you up everyday."

Rachel just smiled again and sat down in one of the chairs at the table. Shelby put their breakfast on two plates and placed them on the table in front of Rachel. She then grabbed the juice from the fridge and sat down next to her daughter.

"So, I was thinking that we'd eat first and then we could get ready to go get your things. Then after we we're done with that, maybe we can go and do something fun to make you feel a little bit better. How does that sound?"

"Yeah, that would be nice," Rachel said as she took a small bite of melon.

They both smiled casually and looked at each other for some time. They both absorbed the quiet of the room until it was too much to bare. Rachel got up and put her plate in the sink before she headed to her room to get ready.

Shelby found it odd that her daughter didn't say anything but she was also not that surprised. She was going to say goodbye to her fathers for an undetermined amount of time. After thinking for a while longer Shelby finally got herself up and put both of the plates in the dishwasher before she headed to her own room.

When she was ready she came out and saw that Rachel was already sitting on the couch watching TV waiting for her.

"You're already ready to go?" Shelby asked with a curious smile and her eyebrow raised.

"Yeah. I didn't really feel like putting on something nice because I know that the nice clothes won't be so nice after packing all my things. Besides, I do have clothes at the house that I can change into afterwards so it's fine."

"Well Rachel, that's thinking ahead. I'm so glad I have such a smart daughter." Shelby said as she brushed her cheek and then kissed Rachel's head making her blush. Shelby went over to the table by the door and picked up her keys then turned back towards Rachel.

Her mother called her smart. Rachel wasn't really prepared for that, but in that moment, she was happy that her mother thought she was smart.

Rachel looked up and saw her mother looking at her. Shelby walked back over and gave Rachel a big hug trying to somehow comfort her child.

"Come on Rach, lets go get your things." Shelby said as she put her hands on Rachel's shoulder and led her out of the house.

They were a little early but she didn't believe that it would be a problem. Rachel walked in through the front door with Shelby right behind her. The Berry's were in full packing and cleaning mode and almost didn't notice the two brunettes standing there.

"Oh, hi. We're almost finished in here and then we'll going down to the basement to start there. Don't hesitate to ask if there is something you want, and Shelby we have boxes down in the storage room from when Rachel was a kid. So, we'll get those things for you, too."

"Oh, that would be great, Thank you." She turned toward Rachel and gestured for her to show her to her old room.

From just that one tiny gesture Rachel knew exactly what Shelby wanted her to do. But she never would have guessed if it had been her fathers doing it and not Shelby. They just didn't get her the way Shelby did. Over the last month or so, they had created their own mother daughter language, and she loved that.

The Berry men just stared at them. It was crazy how much they looked alike and how much they acted alike. Rachel and Shelby walked up the stairs to Rachel's room and LeRoy and Hiram continued in the living room.

"Wow you really have a nice room Rachel." Shelby said as she walked in. She noticed all of the Barbra and Broadway memorabilia all over the room and could have sworn that she was back in her old room at her parents house.

"Thank you, I've done pretty much everything myself the only help I got was to put up the picture on the walls because I'm to short." Rachel blushed again. She didn't really like being short but what could she do?

"It's really nice anyway. You've done a really great job," Shelby smiled.

Rachel smiled back at her mom and then looked around the room bewildered.

"Okay I'm not really sure where we should start," Rachel said with a laugh.

Shelby looked around and laughed a little too before she replied. "Okay, so why don't we start at the top by taking things down off the walls?"

"That sounds good." Rachel was just happy to now have a plan. This was so overwhelming for her and she was glad to have her mom helping her with it. She was starting to wonder what she ever did without Shelby. She has needed her for so many things.

They started taking down her pictures and posters. Rachel took down the things that were low enough for her to reach and Shelby got the rest. After about 10 minuets they were down and they walked over to Rachel's closet. They put things in different boxes so it would be easy to find them and put them away when they got back to Shelby's.

It took them nearly 3 hours to put all Rachel's things into boxes and bags and down into Shelby's car. They walked back into the house after taking out the last two boxes.

LeRoy and Hiram came up from the basement with four more boxes that were marked _Baby Rachel_. They gave two to Rachel and two to Shelby.

Rachel put hers on the floor and went to hug both her dads. They might not have been involved a lot in her life but she still loved them, even though they were leaving her with her mother.

After a lot of hugging Rachel and Shelby walked out the door and got into the Range Rover. Rachel didn't cry when she was with her dads. She didn't want them to know how much it really hurt. So, they just sat there. Shelby wanted Rachel to let it all out hoping that it would help to make her feel a little better. It did and after 15 minutes Rachel looked up at her and said.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome sweetie."

"No. I mean for everything. Thank you for being here for me," she whispered with her now raspy tear filled voice.

Shelby tried her best to keep her tears at bay as she started the car. They were soon back at the house taking everything inside. They each took two boxes in every trip so it didn't take them that long at all. They just put it all in the living room for the moment and would fix up Rachel's new room when they got back. So when they were finished after about 15-20 minutes they headed out the door and back into the Range Rover. Because for now, Shelby had promised Rachel they would do something fun.

"So, what do you want to do?" Shelby asked.

"I don't know. Maybe have some dinner and then a movie?" Rachel answered.

"Ok my love, that sounds perfect." Shelby said with a smile and Rachel smiled back.


	4. Chapter 4: Close

**So this chapter is a little shorter but it has a surprise in it ;) I've also gotten sick so I'm not sure when chapter 5 will be up. Please be patient :) **

**Remember I still do not own Glee ;) **

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On Sunday morning, Rachel walked into the living room to find Shelby curled up on the couch watching the same reality show that Rachel had been watching the night before. Funny thing was, that Shelby didn't seem to find it so interesting then. Rachel smirked and shook her head as she walked over and curled up next to her mom. Shelby held on tight to Rachel and they looked at each other for a long time before Shelby gazed away briefly, she then turned back to Rachel.

"So, Kiddo, what do you want to do today?" Shelby asked with a smile.

"Well, it's just so pretty outside, I figured maybe we could take a walk through town and just talk about things for a while," Rachel answered.

"That sounds lovely," Shelby instantly agreed.

They cuddled a little longer before they both got up and headed to their rooms to change. They were right across the hall from each other so they kept their doors open in case the other one wanted to say something. That way they would hear it without having to leave their rooms.

**Rachel's POV:**

Rachel searched through her closet. She didn't really know what to wear but after a while she picked out a pair of faded jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt. She set out her sneakers and walked into her bathroom.

**Shelby's POV:**

Shelby had had the same problem, she had no idea what to wear but in the end she'd picked out a pair of jeans and a shirt and then headed to her own bathroom to change.

Shelby and Rachel came out of their rooms and looked at each other for quite some time before they both busted out laughing. Not only did they look alike by genetic traits but they were wearing almost the exact same thing.

Rachel looked at her mom and smiled. It was undeniable, they looked like mother and daughter.

"You have good taste in clothes," Shelby said with a little laugh.

"So do you," Rachel replied with a giggle of her own.

They put their shoes on and headed out the door.

As they started their walk they where met by a few people that were surprised to see them together. Mostly people that knew Rachel and must have been thinking 'What is Rachel doing with the glee choir's coach?'

Rachel and Shelby kept walking and decided they would walk through the big park that they were approaching.

**Rachel's POV: **

While they were walking Shelby had stopped for a minute to talk to someone she knew. Rachel didn't notice that Shelby wasn't with her until she walked around the corner and came to the part of the park that you really shouldn't be in alone unless you wanted to get yourself into trouble. This area was kinda rough and when Rachel looked back and didn't see Shelby she started to panic a little. She was fine until she noticed that some people were approaching her. It was at that moment that she couldn't think of anything else. The only thing she wanted right now was Shelby. She wanted her Mom.

**Shelby's POV:**

Shelby had stopped talking to her friends when she noticed that Rachel was gone. 'She must have kept walking, not realizing that I'd stopped,' Shelby thought as she started walking. However, the walking quickly changed to running. Where can she be? Her eyes scanned all around, but she saw nothing. She couldn't have gotten that far right? She tried to focus on the path ahead of her but she still couldn't see her. Shelby's slight worry became a sudden fear. Anything could have happened to her precious baby. Rachel might be 16 but she was still Shelby's baby and she always would be. She had to keep going even though she wanted to stop and just start crying.

**Rachel's POV:**

She knew she might be in great danger but she had no idea how to get out of it. She knew she had to follow the people that were now standing right in front of her. They had walked up to her and then started circling around her like a pack of wolves looking at their dinner. She didn't know what they wanted and she surely wasn't going to ask so she took a deep breath and looked down before she closed her eyes. She thought for sure that they were gonna drag her off further into the bramble but they just turned around her and then suddenly stopped and walked away. Little did she know that Shelby had rounded the corner just in time. Her eyes were still closed and she felt the hot tears falling down as she fell into a heap on the ground.

**Shelby's POV: **

Shelby had stopped running but was walking at a rapid pace. She came to a halt when she had hit the dark edge of the park where thoughts of 'Oh s*** what if she's gone in there?!' rushed through her head. She didn't have the time to start panicking before she saw Rachel sitting on the ground with her eyes closed, crying. She quickly started running again and shouted out Rachel's name. Rachel looked up and saw Shelby running towards her.

Rachel stood up and started running towards Shelby. When they finally came in touch, Shelby took Rachel in her arms and held her in a huge protective hug. Rachel looked up at Shelby with tears still streaming down her face.

"Mom, I was so scared and you weren't there and I thought something really bad was going to happen. But they just turned around and left me alone. When I finally realized that I was out of their reach I just sat down and cried… I thought you'd left me." Rachel was now sobbing into her mother's chest.

Shelby was so happy to have her little girl safely in her arms but then it made Shelby smile even more when she realized that Rachel had called her _Mom_. It was the first time she'd said it and Shelby hoped it wouldn't be the last. She breathed in Rachel's sweet scent as she comforted her daughter.

"Shhh baby, I would never leave you and I'll keep repeating that everyday until you tell me that you believe me."

They hugged a little longer before they headed out of the park. When they got home Rachel seemed a little more like she wanted to be cuddled and never let go of, and Shelby was perfectly fine with that.


	5. Chapter 5: Safe

**So here's chapter 5 it took longer time to finish it. I wrote pretty much the whole thing Sunday night. It's also shorter than chapter 4 but there will be longer chapters in the future! I promise. Anyways hope you guys will enjoy it :) **

**No, I do not own Glee…. **

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The weekend went by rather quickly and it was already Monday morning and time to get ready for school. Shelby had already been up for over an hour when she had showered, made coffee, because Shelby does not function without her blessed caffeinated elixir from the gods, and then set out fruit and a bowl of cereal for Rachel's breakfast.

She was really starting to get the hang of this mom thing, or at least she kept telling herself that. She looked at the clock on the kitchen wall and realized that she was running a little behind schedule.

She had promised Rachel the night before that she would wake her up so that they could get to school a little early the next day. She quietly walked into Rachel's room and sat down on the side of the bed and attempted to awaken her sleeping princess.

She leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and whispered in Rachel's ear.

"Good Morning, Baby. It's time to rise and shine," she said sweetly and waited for a response.

Rachel moaned and rolled the opposite direction of her mother.

Shelby smirked, got up and walked around and sat down on the other side of the bed. This time not being quite as subtle as the first.

"Rachel, Barbra's downstairs waiting to take you to school today."

Rachel bolted upright, almost knocking Shelby to the floor as she looked around like she had just heard someone announce her name as this years Tony Winner.

Shelby laughed out loud as she started to step away from the bed so that Rachel could get up but she quickly changed direction as she bent over slightly to kiss Rachel's forehead.

"Good Morning, Starshine," Shelby said again still smiling.

Ok, so she needed to work on getting her sweet girl into bed at a reasonable hour from now on if she didn't want to keep having repeats of this morning.

Rachel finally focused on her mother and reached up for a hug. She loved getting morning hugs from her mom. That was something that would never get old. She could stay like that forever but she knew they had to get ready to leave. After what seemed like a five minute long hug, Rachel finally let go. She felt safe in her mom's arms and after what had happened the day before she was still a little in shock.

"Sweetie, I'm gonna go get dressed. Why don't you go down and eat. Breakfast is on the kitchen table," Shelby said kissing Rachel's head as she walked out of the room.

Rachel stretched and finally got out of bed. She picked up the clothes that she had laid out the night before and headed for her bathroom. After she'd put on her makeup, fixed her hair and had gotten dressed, it seemed like it took a little longer to get ready today then it normally did, and she couldn't figure out why.

She walked into the kitchen, sat down at the table, poured almond milk on her cereal and started to eat. Rachel finally came out of her thoughts when she heard her mother's key's. She'd been sitting there looking out through the kitchen window for a long time.

Rach had been acting weird since the incident in the park and still wasn't herself today and it was really starting to worry Shelby. Usually, she can't shut her darling daughter up and today she'd hardly said a peep to her all morning so Shelby decided to finally break the silence.

"You'll come and find me if anything happens today, won't you?"

Rachel was still staring out the window as she gently nodded her head to acknowledge her mothers question.

All she could do was take Rachel at her word and hope that her daughter would be alright today.

"Ok, We need to get going. I'm gonna grab some stuff from my office and I'll meet you at the front door." She walked out of the room and down the hall.

Rachel quickly got up and put her bowl in the sink and ran up to her room to get her backpack.

Shelby passed Rachel in the hallway as she went back into the kitchen to put everything away from breakfast and to refill her coffee cup. She grabbed her briefcase from the table and opened the front door.

As she called for Rachel, she rounded the corner and came down the stairs.

It was Rachel's first day back after starting to live with her mother on a permanent basis and she was wondering what people were gonna say when they announced the news in Glee today.

The night before, Shelby had agreed with Rachel's suggestion that they came in separated cars until they had told everyone about the new living arrangements.

"You ready?" Shelby asked as she put one arm around Rachel and they began walking out the front door.

"Yeah," Rachel answered with a smile and headed to her car.

Rachel left first and Shelby locked up the house and waited a few minutes before she backed out of the driveway.

'So much for being early today,' she said to herself.

Rachel parked her car as far away from teachers parking as possible, she sat there for a moment to get her nerves under control before she headed into the building. She had just walked in when Shelby reached the school parking lot.

Shelby needed to meet with Figgins, while Rachel was in first period, about the fact that she now had custody of Rachel and that her dads were not allowed to have any contact with her what-so-ever if she wasn't around.

When she was done with the meeting she headed into the teacher's lounge for more coffee and to make copies of some new music. She texted Rachel in between classes so that Rachel would know that everything had gone well with Figgins.

Five seconds later she got a reply, "OK, Good. :)"

Shelby smiled and head to her classroom to start her day.

The day went by quickly for both of them and it was now time to tell everyone in Glee. Shelby met Rachel by her locker. The others were already in the choir room. Rachel and Shelby smiled at each other before they walked in. As soon as they walked in together it became quiet.

Santana was the first one to open her mouth. She knew something was different. She'd seen Rachel with Shelby the other day and they seemed happy, they seemed happy now. Rachel was never that happy.

"Okay. Something's up! What are you doing with the coach, Berry? I saw the two of you hanging out the other day and you're just a little too happy now. What's going on?"

Everyone in the room was a little stunned to hear what Santana said about her and Coach Corcoran, but Rachel just swallowed hard. She was upset too, but not because Santana had seen her with Shelby. It was because she had called her 'Berry'. She hated that name, ugh, and she hated them. That's what hurt… a lot.

Shelby saw that she was upset and she gently started rubbing Rachel's back.

Rachel looked up and smiled. She then took a deep breath and very quietly answered Santana.

"To make a long story short, Shelby is my mother."

She looked from Santana, who was now at a loss for words which never happened to Santana, then back up to her mom. Shelby's hand was still on Rachel's back for support and she gave her a gentle nod and smile to give her some encouragement. Rachel was the one that needed to tell them the news. It was her story to tell.

She looked back at her other friends and she slowly continued with her story.

"We've known for a month, and I've been spending a lot of time with her. We thought that we could keep it to ourselves because she didn't have custody of me. But it's different now."

She closed her eyes, as if remembering the entire horrific scene, and she stepped backward into her mother's embrace. Shelby gladly put her arms around her but slightly nudged her to keep going. Rachel took a deep breath and continued.

"I was at Shelby's on Friday night and my dads," she emphasized the word dads, "came over and told me that they were moving to Europe and that they would be signing over custody to Shelby. So, ever since Friday night I've been living with my mom, permanently."

Everyone in the room was completely shocked, especially Santana. That was something they never saw coming. They all had thought that Shelby was just giving Rachel extra voice lessons.

"Oh." Was all that came out of Santana's mouth.

Rachel and Shelby let another minute pass by so everyone could let it sink in. Then Rachel went to sit down beside Finn and Shelby and Mr. Schue started the days lesson.

Glee went on without any more drama and then it was time to go home. No one said anything more to Rachel about her announcement. They figured that they would just deal with the fact that she was now gonna be getting special attention from the Coach. But they didn't know Shelby well enough yet, to know that that wasn't true. Coach Corcoran didn't give special treatment, she treated everyone the same.

All the way home, Rachel couldn't stop thinking about Santana calling her Berry. She hated that name so much. When Shelby had walked into the house Rachel went straight into her mothers arms and started crying.

"Hey, sweetie. What's wrong?" Shelby asked out of great concern. She wanted to know what was causing her daughter to cry.

"I hate it! I hate it so much!" Rachel said almost impossible to understand because of her sobbing.

"What is it you hate?"

"My name! I hate being Berry!"

"Oh, honey," Shelby said brushing away some hair away from Rachel's face so she could look into her daughters eyes. Those big brown puppy dog eyes.

"Mom…." Rachel trailed off.

"Yeah."

"I have a question." Rachel wanted to smile but she was scared of her mothers answer to her question.

"Okay, go ahead." Shelby was actually scared of the question.

"Umm, can I change my last name to Corcoran?" Rachel's heart was now pounding deep in her chest.

"Of course you can sweetie. If that's what you truly want to do, I can call my lawyer tomorrow and have him start on that first thing tomorrow." There was no hesitation on Shelby's part. She would love for her baby to have her name.

Rachel's smile widened. She was suddenly so happy. After everything she had been through, with them. After all the times that she'd had to spend alone. After them thinking only about themselves and never about her. She was finally going to be rid of them. She wasn't ever going to be alone again. Her mother would make sure of that. She was now her mother's child. She was going to be a Corcoran. 'Rachel Barbra Corcoran'. She could deal with that.

"It is what I truly want, Mama. I want to be all yours." She cuddled into her mothers embrace and hoped that she would never let go, because she just loved her mothers hugs, and that was something that would never get old.


	6. Chapter 6: Exciting

**Chapter 6 is now finally here! This one is definitely longer than the others. I really hope you will enjoy it! Not sure when Chapter 7 will be up! **

**I don't know how many times I have to say this: I don't own Glee :( **

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Rachel woke up early the next morning because she knew what was happening before school. Shelby had called the Lawyer the night before and he had asked them to come in first thing in the morning. She was going to change her name to Corcoran. She bounced off her bed and into her mothers room and landed on her mother, getting a m*** in return.

"Mom! Momma! Mommy!" Rachel shouted with excitement.

"Yes honey." Shelby let out a whimper, obviously still half asleep.

"Get up! Get up! Get up!" Rachel chimed.

"Rachel it's 5:30 in the morning. Go back to sleep."

"I can't! I'm too excited!" She announced as she bounced up and down rocking Shelby from side to side.

"Honey, you're only changing your name. It's nothing serious. Go back to bed." Shelby pulled her blankets over her head but then slightly lifted her eyelids to peek out and saw no motion from her daughter.

Rachel let out a loud groan and slowly started to get off the bed. Before she could push herself up, her mother pulled her down into her arms. Which made Rachel gasp. She started beaming when she heard her mother start giggling from underneath the covers. She loved this. It was amazing to cuddle with her mother early in the morning, and to hear her mother giggle made her happy too. Shelby was always trying to make sure Rachel was happy, it was nice for it to go the other way.

They cuddled for a few hours and Rachel fell asleep before Shelby decided it was actually time to get up. She woke Rachel as she started to get up, but now Rachel wanted to stay in bed and continue to cuddle, which in return, made Shelby laugh and Rachel very confused.

"What?" Rachel asked with a distressed look on her face.

"Nothing," Shelby giggled.

"Tell me!" Rachel demanded.

"When you woke me up at 5:30am you wanted to get up so we could leave right away. Now, only two hours later, you want to stay in bed and cuddle. It's just a little funny, that's all," Shelby answered with a laugh.

"Oh," Rachel slowly let out, looking over at the alarm clock. They didn't have to be at the lawyers until 8:30.

"So, Rachel, get up and get ready if you really do want to change your name today."

"I do want to change my name but I also want to stay here and cuddle with you." Rachel said with a disappointed smirk.

They were supposed to go to school right after their appointment but when Rachel looked into Shelby's eyes, Shelby just couldn't. One day off school wasn't going to hurt anything.

"What if I call us in sick today, so that after we're done at the lawyers we can come home and cuddle some more?" Rachel's eyes lit up and Shelby took that as a 'yes'.

Rachel didn't really want to go to school today anyway. She was still hurt from yesterday when Santana had called her Berry. Even though at the end of the day her name would be Corcoran and not Berry she was still not quite ready to go back. She would rather come home and spend time with her mother.

Even though Rachel liked the new plan she still got up slowly and Shelby lead her back to her bedroom. Shelby stood by the door, watching Rachel so that she wouldn't try to fall flat on her stomach and get back in bed.

"You don't have to stand there and watch." Rachel said awkwardly with a backward glance.

"I know, but I want to." Shelby said as she winked at the girl.

Rachel got some clothes from her closet and headed into her bathroom, quickly sticking her head out.

"Can I go change in my bathroom or do you want to watch me do that too?" She asked sarcastically.

Shelby laughed as she turned away from Rachel's room and headed to her own to get herself ready.

When Shelby was finished she walked into Rachel's bedroom, but Rachel wasn't there. She walked into the living room to see Rachel sitting on the couch waiting for her.

"So, here you are." Shelby said as she walked over to her child.

"Umm, yeah. Where else would I be?" she asked standing up and leaning into her mom's waiting arms.

"Well, I checked your room but you weren't there," Shelby said as she hugged her and kissed the top of her head.

"Oh." Rachel let out a little laugh before she continued, "I finished really fast. It isn't hard to pick out something to wear when we're just going to your lawyer's office."

Before they had gone in to change Shelby had called the school to tell them that they wouldn't be coming in today. Shelby could see that Rachel was still upset about what Santana had said to her and she did want her little princess to feel better. Which she knew would happen by the end of the day when her name would finally be changed.

"Oh yeah. I didn't think about that." Shelby let out a small snicker. She really hadn't thought about it. Whether she was going to an appointment or to school, she always dressed in business like clothes.

They reluctantly gave up on the hug fest as Shelby reached over to pick up her briefcase and purse while Rachel grabbed her phone off the table, then they headed out to Shelby's SUV.

The drive wasn't long and both had kept quiet listening to the music from the car radio. They were pretty tired from yesterday and had stayed up too late cuddling on the couch watching a movie. Rachel had fallen asleep in Shelby's arms, but Shelby didn't mind because Rachel looked like a small toddler, not a teenager.

Shelby and Rachel were met by Shelby's lawyer, Ryan Lloyd, when they walked into the building.

Rachel thought that he was quite handsome. He was tall with dark brown hair and piercing blue eyes.

"So, this is Rachel," He confirmed, taking Rachel's hand and applying a kiss. Shelby had known Ryan for a long time and he would treat the daughter in the same way that he treated the mother.

"Yep, my little princess." Shelby proudly answered giving him a quick hug.

"I'm not little." Rachel huffed slightly blushing from embarrassment.

"Of course not, sweetie," Shelby said with a laugh.

Rachel just glared at her mother.

"So, should we go into my office. There is some paper work that needs to be signed." Ryan said trying to break the tension as he lead them past the secretary and into his tiny office.

Walking down the long hallway Rachel suddenly felt a little scared about this whole situation. She walked so closely in front of Shelby she almost tripped them both up. Shelby placed both hands on Rachel's shoulders in an effort to calm the girls nerves, which made Rachel feel a little better. She then took Rachel's hand and made Rachel walk in next to her.

The office was kind of small but Rachel didn't mind. There was a long picture window with a tall potted tree, a filing cabinet, a large desk, and three chairs. She eyed the chair on the right and lifted her eyes to her mother, who nodded her ok, for Rachel to sit down. Shelby sat down in the one next to it and Ryan sat in the one behind the desk.

Shelby took Rachel's hand again as Ryan began to speak. He was telling them about the legal process and he said something about filing the paper work this morning, and then something else, by the end of the day, and then Rachel's name would officially be Rachel Barbra Corcoran. Rachel didn't really pay attention anything else but she did hear the part about it being official and she couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face.

'This is it, it's finally happening.' Rachel thought to herself. Rachel was brought back into the conversation when she suddenly realized that Shelby was patting her leg.

"Rachel, honey, we need you to sign this." Shelby said holding out a pen for her to use.

Rachel slowly took the pen and leaned forward to sign the paper but hesitated.

"Umm, what name do I write?" Rachel looked up questionably.

"Your old name," Ryan stated with a nod to Shelby.

"Oh, okay." Rachel smiled as she signed on the bottom line and then looked up at her mother. Shelby was smiling.

Shelby signed the final few papers before she got up. She reached her hand out to Rachel to help her up, she said thank you and goodbye to Ryan before she put one arm around Rachel and they headed out of the building and over to Shelby's SUV.

They climbed in and Shelby started driving back to the house. She was extremely tired when they got back but Rachel was full of energy. She was super excited and couldn't wait for the end of the day.

"Rachel slow down!" Shelby let out, realizing that this day was going to end exactly the way it started. With her child bouncing off the walls.

"I'm sorry! I'm so excited." Rachel actually looked sorry but she was happy and Shelby couldn't deny that. She was happy that her daughter was happy.

"Come on Rach, pick a movie to put in and let's calm down and cuddle on the couch," Shelby baited.

Rachel could not say no to that. She loved their cuddle time. It was one of her favorite things. Rachel crawled up on the couch next to Shelby and leaned her head against Shelby's shoulder. Shelby loved when Rachel did that, and she knew that it made Rachel feel safe. If only Shelby could make Rachel feel safe all the time. She knew it would take time but hopefully Rachel would get there.

Less than an hour later they were both asleep on the couch and a few hours later Shelby woke up but Rachel wasn't lying next to her. She looked around but couldn't find her. She then heard some noise coming from the other room. She got up and walked into the kitchen. There in the middle of everything was Rachel.

"Rach, what are you doing?"

Rachel looked up and smiled.

"Umm… I thought… that, since you've been so great, I thought that it would be nice to return the favor… so I was going to make dinner."

Shelby smiled sweetly.

"Rachel honey. You shouldn't have. But now that you've started, I won't get in your way," Shelby laughed as she walked back into the living room and laid down on the couch.

Rachel just giggled and then continued with what she was doing.

Dinner was ready thirty minutes later and they were both sitting down at the kitchen table eating.

"Wow Rachel. This is really good," Shelby said with astonishment.

"Thank you," Rachel answered with full mouth.

After dinner they both washed the dishes and then headed back to the couch for more snuggles and another movie. When it was almost ten o'clock they both headed for bed knowing that the next day won't be as relaxing as this one. But they did know one thing. They were finally a family. The Corcoran Family.


	7. Chapter 7: Brave

**So I know it took a while but I've been crazy busy. Hopefully this chapter will make up for it being late. Chapter 8 will be up soon though I promise!**

**FYI all reviews that aren't positive will be deleted. Please don't send a review if you don't have anything nice to say. **

**I obviously do not own Glee...**

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"Rachel, time to wake up!" Shelby sang out as she tried to get Rachel out of bed.

Rachel just rolled around and hoped that her mother would leave her alone, but Shelby had a different idea. Something Rachel wouldn't like very much at all.

"Rach, if you don't wake up right now you're not allowed to compete at Nationals."

Rachel shot up and looked angrily at her mother who was standing in her door laughing.

"That's not funny," Rachel shouted.

"It was the only way to wake you up," Shelby giggled. She knew her daughter too well, or at least she was getting there.

Rachel huffed and got out of her bed.

"Good morning, Starshine," Shelby smiled as she put an arm around her daughter, placed a soft kiss on her head, leading her into the kitchen so they could eat breakfast together. Rachel looked up at Shelby for a long time before she finally spoke up.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. I know that I've been behaving like I'm 8 instead of 16." Rachel smiled, slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, honey. You don't have to apologize. You were just hurt by what Santana had said, but most of all you were hurt by your fathers. It's their fault, but it's also mine."

Rachel bit down on her lip right after she heard her mother say that she thought that it was also her fault.

"It's not your fault," she acknowledged.

"Yes, Rachel, it is. I was the one that gave you to them. I should have kept you from the start," she whispered as a tear silently rolled down her cheek.

"Mom, please don't. It's not your fault. You were only 19. You didn't realize how that kind of decision would effect you, plus you didn't know how they were gonna treat me." Rachel stood up and walked over to her mother and hugged her tightly. "Mama, please don't cry."

Shelby smiled into Rachel's shoulder. Rachel seemed to know exactly the right thing to say and that made Shelby really happy. She love hearing Rachel call her 'Mama'. Her precious daughter had grown up to be so perfect. Shelby had been scared of how Rachel had turned out, but this girl was exactly like her just 16 years younger. She really is a good person. Shelby didn't want to let go of her little girl but they both had to get ready for school.

"If you go and get ready for school, I'll clean up in here."

"Okay," Rachel answered quickly trying to exit the room. Anything to get out of doing the dishes.

"By the way, do you want a ride to school or are you taking your own car?" Shelby asked stopping her in her tracks.

"A ride will be nice." Rachel ran back over and squeezed Shelby once more before she headed up to her bedroom.

Rachel sat down on the end of her bed for just a minute. For some reason she still felt really tired. She was usually so 'high energy' so she guessed it had something to do with their little lazy cuddle day the day before. Even still, she managed to get up and be ready right in time. She walked out of her room exactly when Shelby was getting ready to yell that it was time to go.

"Rach…" She was cut off when Rachel walked into the living room.

"Yeah?" Rachel answered with a slight smirk on her face.

"Oh, nothing, I just… it's time to go."

"Oh, okay," Rachel confirmed as she grabbed her book bag and phone off the hall table.

They walked out and Rachel climbed into the car as Shelby locked the door. They sang along with the radio as Shelby drove the two of them to McKinley.

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Rachel couldn't keep her eyes on her book any longer and glanced up at Santana who seemed to be staring at her. Rachel looked back at her book but didn't have time to start reading when she heard a familiar voice.

"So Berry, why weren't you and mommy dearest at school yesterday?" Santana asked laughing under her breath.

Rachel slowly cleared the lump in her throat before she whispered, "First of all, it's Corcoran now, and second, it's none of your business."

Santana huffed and turned, sitting back down in her seat. She knew that Rachel took it kinda hard when she called her Berry and after everything, she regretted calling her that, but that was something she would never admit to Rachel. As Santana thought about it for a second, and knew that Rachel had won this round and she wasn't gonna get mad about it. She pulled her book back in front of her and pretended to read the homework assignment.

When the end of the day finally rolled around, Rachel walked into the choir room and took her regular seat next to Finn. She looked up at him and he kissed her on the cheek. She then looked up and saw her mother smiling and Rachel got a small nod of acceptance.

The assignment on the board for the week was Happiness and Rachel knew exactly what song she wanted to sing. However, unlike being the first one to sing every other week, this time she wanted to wait, because she wanted to sing this particular song with her mother. Recently, her mom had been the one who made her happy, and this song meant a lot to both of them. But, she couldn't just drag her up in front of the others even though they'd sung it hundreds of times before. Rachel wanted to sing 'Next To Me' by Emeli Sandé, and she knew Shelby would approve but she wanted to ask first. When class was over she stayed after to wait for Shelby.

"Hey mom, could we go?" she asked as she saw Shelby taking paperwork out of her briefcase.

"Oh, Rachel. Honey, I still have some work to finish."

"Okay, I guess I can get a ride home with Finn and I'll see you later."

"Yeah, that's fine." Shelby kissed Rachel's head as Rachel hugged her.

Rachel walked out and Finn was waiting outside the choir room.

"So?" Finn trailed off.

"She has to work late so she was fine with me going home with you." Finn smiled and took Rachel's hand as they walked out of the building to Finn's car.

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Shelby didn't really want to leave Rachel alone for long but she had to finish her work. She had to get ready for the quiz she was giving the next day. She didn't really have a problem leaving Rachel with Finn. She trusted Finn and she trusted her daughter. She kept thinking about it for some time while she was going through the papers that needed to be graded. After she had quickly finished with everything, she got her things together and headed for her car. As she was walking, she sent Rachel a text message saying that she was finished and asked her if she wanted to be picked up at Finn's. After a minute she got a reply from Rachel that said yes, so when she got in the car Shelby drove towards Finn's house.

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In between kissing and studying Rachel got a text from Shelby.

"Finn, wait, it's from mom," Rachel broke apart the kiss. Rachel looked at the text and smiled.

"What?" Finn asked curiously.

"Mom's finished with her work early and asked if I wanted her to pick me up," Rachel kept smiling.

"That's so cute," Finn said with a little smile.

"I know," Rachel grinned.

"So, is she going to pick you up?"

"I believe so," Rachel said as she sent her reply.

"So how much time do we have?"

"Well…she's leaving school now."

Finn quickly started kissing Rachel again. After about 10 minutes of kissing they got interrupted when they heard a knock on the door.

"That must be my mom," Rachel said.

"Yeah, my mom would have walked right in," Finn answered with a laugh. Rachel started putting her things in her bag as Finn went to get the door.

"Hi, Ms. Corcoran. Rachel is just packing up her stuff."

"Hey, Finn. Okay, great. So, everything went well then?"

"Yeah, we studied a lot," he lied as his face burned crimson.

"That's good," Shelby smiled nodding her head, knowing that that wasn't the complete truth, but they were teenagers. What was she to do.

Rachel walked up to her mother and boyfriend.

"Hi mom. I'm ready to go."

"Hey Baby, let's get going then," Shelby answered. "See ya later Finn." She waved another goodbye as she headed out to the Range Rover.

Rachel nodded and kissed Finn goodbye following her mother to the car. When they were in the car on the way home Shelby thought again about what Finn had said.

"Honey, Finn told me that the two of you studied a lot," she inquired.

"Yeah, we were helping each other on our homework," she blushed again. It wasn't completely inaccurate.

"That's really good."

"Yeah, he's the best," Rachel smiled.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me? I don't want you to think that I'm snooping or anything, and I might be a little overprotective but I'm allowed to be, right?" Shelby queried.

"No, it's fine mom. I like it, my dads were never really that curious about what I did. I think it's kinda cute. This might be a little TMI for you but we also did happen to make out a little bit." Rachel laughed as she saw the expression on Shelby's face.

"Yeah, you're right. A little too much information but I want you to know that you can come to me and talk to me about anything. You know that, right?"

"Thanks mom, I do. But there is another thing."

Shelby got slightly worried and Rachel saw it. "It's fine mom, it has nothing to do with Finn."

Shelby looked relived and Rachel noticed that too.

"Ok, then what is it sweetie?"

"You know the assignment in Glee club…"

"Yeah," Shelby smiled.

"So you also know that the assignment is about happiness?"

"Yes, it was my idea," Shelby smiled again.

"Oh," Rachel laughed before she continued. "So, I just want you to know that, what makes me happy is you. So I wanted to do the assignment with you, that is, if you don't mind."

Shelby's smile brightened.

"You make me very happy too, peanut."

Rachel's smile now equaled her mothers.

"So, what song are we gonna sing?"

"I was thinking maybe… 'Next To Me'…."

"Anything to sing next to you," Shelby quipped.

As they finished their conversation, they were pulling into the driveway.

"Well, we're home," Shelby stated the obvious.

Rachel liked the sound of that…home. It's where she and Shelby could goof around without being ashamed to be together. Rachel had never been this happy in her life. They just talked and relaxed for the evening. They didn't need to rehearse the song because they knew it by wrote. Both of them went to bed with very pleasant dreams circling their brains.

The next day went by quickly and Rachel was excited to get to Glee club. She was actually more excited to sing in front of the others with her mom.

Rachel walked in and took her usual seat next to Finn. She watched as Shelby talked to Mr. Schue. The class started a few minutes later as Mr. Schue started speaking.

"So who's turn is it today?"

"I would like to go Mr. Schue." Rachel stood up and walked to stand in front of the others.

"So, there is only one person in this entire world that makes me really happy and it's my mom, so I would like to dedicate and sing this song with her."

Shelby stood up and walked to stand next to her daughter. The music started playing and everyone started to cheer them on. As they finished the song, everyone was applauding an awesome performance as Rachel and Shelby hugged each other tightly.

Now there was only one more thing to worry about this year but Rachel just needed a few more weeks to fly by and then it would be May and time for Nationals.


	8. Eventually a happy ending - small hiatus

**I know that it's been a while and I said that it would be up soon but there is some small issues that makes this take time hopefully it will be up soon ~ QueenMenzel**


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